Letters to the Editor, Friday, April 6, 2018

Commission doesn’t serve people

The article in the March 26 edition of this newspaper has prompted me to restate here the comments I presented to the Constitution Revision Commission at its March 5 public hearing in Cape Coral.

I moved to Naples permanently from Connecticut in July 2016. I was very impressed and excited when I first learned about the Florida Constitution Revision Commission. I thought how wonderful, how progressive. Why doesn’t every state do the same thing?
However, the realities proved to be much different from the perception.

I became part of a group of citizens interested in overturning the Citizens United ruling in an effort to begin sweeping corruption out of every level of our government. Seeking help from the commission with our mission, our group sent in over 18 percent of all of the proposals the Constitution Revision Commission received. Yet, that issue was never satisfactorily addressed.

It now seems to me that the Constitution Revision Commission is not ready to hear and support the needs of the people of Florida. It is a group set up to enact its own agenda, based on bias and government self-interest.

The rest of my statement then is not as relevant now after reading attorney Tim Cerio’s offensive declaration that “we have to be guided by our own principles on what belongs in the constitution and what doesn’t.” How very wrong you are, sir. You have to be guided by the principles and voices of the citizens you are meant to serve. It is such egocentric “tail wagging the dog” attitudes and actions that have fired up the current public resistance, which will soon be reining in our wayward democracy.

Barbara Gregory, Naples

Have affair after becoming president

Dear President Donald Trump haters:

The stories now are that Trump had affairs with a few women before he became the president of the United States. Trump should have waited until he got into the White House like some other presidents did. You may faintly remember President John F. Kennedy, President Bill Clinton and a few others. But then, Trump would have to go back to being a Democrat to get by with an affair in the White House.

Isn’t Trump terrible for doing this before becoming president?

Arlon Sandbulte, Naples

Pine Ridge Road work welcome

I am writing in response to the March 27 article about the possible construction on Pine Ridge Road.

Improving the traffic flow on Pine Ridge Road will help prepare for the anticipated growth in the population of our community over the next few years. While construction is underway, I understand it will get worse before it gets better but something has to be done.

I did not experience road rage until I moved to Naples three years ago. It seems that with each passing season it not only gets busier but it also feels longer. Driving from Interstate 75 to U.S. 41 on Pine Ridge Road is the worst part of my work commute.

I understand a Naples resident’s comment that traffic is only a little bad for three months. With the expected growth in the population of Naples, I think it is better to prepare for the influx of visitors and new residents by easing the flow of traffic as much as we can right now.

Collier County Senior Transportation Planner Jeff Perry summed up one of the problems by explaining in the article, “The problem is these intersections are in a two-minute cycle. But instead of 60 seconds for each direction, those left turns run for about 18 seconds in each direction. So they're stealing 30 percent of our movement capacity.” Fixing this is one of the many hurdles we can overcome to improve everyone’s experience driving on Pine Ridge Road.

I am willing to endure the long months of construction in hopes that someday my commute will be faster and calmer.

Kyra Ouvry, Naples

Why no toll waiver?

In September 2017, Gov. Rick Scott waived all toll fees in lieu of impeding evacuation ahead of Hurricane Irma.

In early March, in the height of the dry season and the tourist season, Collier County officials determined a "controlled" burn on a Friday was a good idea, until two days later, when the controlled burn turned into an uncontrolled burn. On the following Monday and Tuesday mornings, U.S. 41 East was closed from San Marco Road to State Road 29 until 9:30 a.m. due to smoky and foggy conditions. Port of the Islands residents had to travel Interstate 75 to State Road 29, then right onto U.S. 41. This is approximately 40 miles out of their way to get home and/or to work. NBC news was at Port of the Islands both days covering the fire and its effects on the community.

Scott again waived any toll fees due to the closure of 41.

On March 21, a cold front producing lightning struck the area, causing a natural disaster named the Greenway fire. On March 26, 41 was closed again from State Road 92 to State Road 29 due to smoky and foggy conditions in the morning. U.S. 41 was re-opened, only to be closed again in the afternoon hours. Port of the Islands residents again had to travel I-75 to get back to their residences and/or work, only this time, they had to pay.

I wonder why this was a different situation than the prior two occasions? Where is Commissioner Donna Fiala in fighting for our community? Gov. Scott?

Also, due to the closure of U.S. 41, my small business operating out of Port of the Islands lost revenue at a time when season is shortly ending.

Ellen Eichler, Naples

Trump Republicans say yes

Are you a President Donald Trump Republican?

If you are, you can answer "yes" to the questions below:

• Do you believe “reality TV” is real?

• Do you believe Trump has nothing to hide in his tax returns?

• Do you believe that every American has a constitutional right to any kind of armament necessary to ward off a government agency (e.g., FBI, ATF, state police, police, National Guard) that may come to seize such weapons or impose the law in any way and so on?

• Do you believe that you are morally superior because you proclaim your opposition to abortion over those who don’t feel the right to interfere in others’ life decisions?

• Do you doubt that Rex Tillerson referred to Trump as a “moron?”

• Do you also doubt that H.R. McMaster and Steven Mnuchin, as well as others, referred to Trump as an “idiot?”

• Do you not know who the two men in the question above are?

• Do you believe James Comey, Andrew McCabe, James Clapper, James Woolsey, Michael Hayden, John McCain, Ken Starr, Karl Rove or journalists like Davis Brooks, George Will and Charles Krauthammer and even Glen Beck have joined the haters of the liberal left?

• Do you not know who any of the people above are?

• Do you believe any guy in his 30s should date a 14-year-old?

• Do you believe marriage for an 11-year-old girl is appropriate? Legal? Moral?

• Do you really believe a 2,000-mile wall is “reasonable” to control immigration despite what immigration officers and state officials say?

• Do you really believe in the “evil cabal,” the “deep state” or “Roswell?”

• Is Fox News the “Truth?”

Robert Martin, Naples

President or actor?

A showman was introduced to the American public through a television show, every segment of this show ending with the host stating face to face to a contestant: "You’re fired!"

Ironically, many citizens believed that this "actor" was the real goods and elected him to the presidency, only to find he is so taken with only his own opinion and so egotistical that he refuses to be briefed on the most serious of international occurrences as well as real local problems (not the fake news he keeps spouting about).

His communication is by Twitter; he has no relationship to the truth and when he says something sensible (rarely) he will change it sometimes within hours.

Never before have more employees from not only the FBI but the Justice Department, aides, fundraisers and close associates, etc., too numerous to keep track of, been fired by any president in so short a time.

Here is the most amazing thing: the president has never said face to face to any of the aforementioned people, “You’re fired.”

Make up your own mind. Who did the people of this country elect, a president or an actor?

Irene Ketover, Naples

Nobody wins trade wars

As a Canadian visitor to this great country and its generous and welcoming people, it is totally inappropriate for me to involve myself in your internal affairs, political or otherwise. However, when unilateral decisions are made in Washington which unjustly affect the well-being of my country and its people, well, I must speak up.

When President Donald Trump talks of tariffs against Canada, he should not overlook the fact that Canada is the largest and most secure source of crude oil needed to meet the daily energy requirements of the USA. Online research indicates that around 3 million barrels of crude oil are shipped to refineries in the USA every day at a discounted price from the world price of crude oil

As a Canadian taxpayer, it is bad enough that I am subsidizing the cost of gasoline at the pump in the USA while paying world prices myself, but for Trump to have the audacity to contend that the USA is being screwed by Canada and is to be punished with tariffs, well perhaps it is time to reluctantly draw a line in sand with a friend since my country and its people are being detrimentally treated.

As a self-professed great deal-maker, perhaps Trump would appreciate trying this one on for size: The day tariffs are implemented against Canada, we implement an export tax on all crude oil shipments to the USA. As the USA refineries will not absorb the additional costs but pass them on to consumers, I wonder how his base support will react to increased gas prices at the pump?

Nobody wins trade wars.

Ian Cairns, Bonita Springs

Hilarious decision

In regard to the story headlined “Walmart pulls Cosmopolitan from checkout lines":

Seriously? Have you seen pictures of "Walmartians" wandering the aisles in hilarious (and questionable) stages of undress on social media? Absolutely hilarious.

Vee Nugent, Naples

Preserve rights, independence

Let me start first by saying that I have a conceal carry gun permit. I do carry, I did vote for President Donald Trump and not because I was told to by a man but because I wanted to and I am female.

There seems to be much controversy over whether or not we should be allowed the right of the Second Amendment. My mother used to tell me to think before I spoke, not while I was speaking or after I already spoke, but before my lips started flapping.

So with that said, before we say or do anything, let’s take a minute to think about this:
The way I see this is we as the people of the U.S. have rights so that we may maintain our independence, thereby making us in charge of ourselves. Included in the Bill of Rights are the right to speak (First Amendment), the right not to speak (Fifth Amendment) and the right to protect ourselves by bearing arms (Second Amendment).

Read this again, hear it, and think about it.

This tells many of us all we need to know. We need to maintain our independence by maintaining these amendments, thereby maintaining our freedom. Criminals, until caught and prosecuted, are as free as we are. So this means there really is no such thing as a “gun-free zone.” All zones should be somewhere somehow secured for safety.